It's critical to consider other viewpoints, difficult as it may be

Friday

I would like to believe that the reason behind it is that I’m constantly in search of information — the truth — the answer to the millions of questions I have about life in general.

Sometimes I do it for the mere pleasure of reading words that resonate with me, but lately I seem to be searching out opinions and experiences that are opposite mine.

That's something we should probably all do.

Sometimes I see a passage that explains my own thinking and quietly exclaim to myself “Yeah, that’s exactly what I thought,” as if to say that I’ve been right all along.

Occasionally, I see something that triggers a negative response, and I have to ask myself why. After all, we all have friends, family and acquaintances whom we don’t agree with, but who’s to say whether or not their opinions are valid?

This week, I read something that stuck with me, in a story about the history of vaccinations and how researchers and doctors were finally able to eradicate so many diseases:

“The stronger our convictions are, the greater our reluctance to expose ourselves to evidence that might contradict them. We may all yet pay a heavy price for that.”

Although I am a firm supporter of freedom of speech and all of that it implies, I am not yet willing to part ways with all the people, especially good friends, who don’t agree with me.

At a certain stage of life we all have to face the music and accept the fact that just because we believe certain things does not mean we are always right. (I hate it when that happens.)

Growing up in a large household constantly humming with disparaging words from the “mouths of babes” (literally), the situation was always neutralized by reasonable and wise parents who held us accountable. Whether or not we learned quickly or agonizingly slow, eventually the lessons they taught us sunk in.

Our many disagreements at the dinner table, along with our emotional outbursts about the unfairness of it all, did not seem to affect our parents' ultimate determination to direct us to the civility and respect for others that would shape our futures.

We all have our own convictions and personal beliefs. Admittedly, I may be too opinionated for my own good, but finally I understand that once we step into the arena of representation (either by election or personal and voluntary promotion), we are obliged to consider the “greater good” because we are serving as agents ... not for ourselves but for others.

That means considering and respecting the thoughts and opinions of others.

Yet I fear that too frequently, we all miss the boat, turn the volume down on those with differing points of view, and drown in our own pre-conceived notions and convictions.